Tales from the Konoha Library
by BarettaVendetta
Summary: A series of short stories based upon the songs of Tori Amos, each focusing on a different character. Some violence and sex. Please note that chapters will sometimes be out of order.
1. Neji: Crucify

**Crucify**

_You're just an empty cage if you kill the bird..._

Standing on a chair in the bathroom in the branch house's section of the Hyuuga complex, Neji peered into the mirror and cautiously, tentatively, parted the bandages on his forehead, pulling them open like a pair of curtains. He hated doing this, but all the same, he felt he had to do it every so often to remind himself of the destiny that had been chosen for him.

There it was. The curse mark. Two black lines, and in between them, two further black lines in a cross with smaller black lines tapering off the ends, like a circle of disembodied legs. Neji imagined these legs walking around in an endless circle, trapped. Alternatively, they were marching over the trampled bodies of the branch house. He'd always been a morbid child, but there was some truth in this imagery; after all, they'd placed this mark on him to remind him of his place. He was in the branch family of the Hyuuga clan. There was no way out. If he tried anything, they'd activate the mark. His brain would hurt and he'd fall to the floor in pain, just like his dad had when Uncle Hiashi had activated it. Perhaps he'd even die.

Lost in a forest of legs and black haoris and kimonos at his father's funeral, Neji had peered through the gaps to see if he could find his little cousin Hinata. How he envied her, not having to grow up with that thing on her forehead. But then, she did have Uncle Hiashi for a father. Neji hated Uncle Hiashi, always had ever since he'd caused his dad to collapse on the floor in agony and told Neji to accept his fate, and even more so ever since his dad had gone to sacrifice himself to Kumogakure and never come back.

His fate had been sealed when he was four years old, last winter when Hinata turned three. Members of the main house had been present when the mark had been placed on Neji's head, and he'd wanted to spit in their faces, every single one of them, but of course, he was a Hyuuga, one of the Four Pillars of Konoha, and Hyuuga children didn't spit in the faces of others, particularly when those others had the ability to literally destroy your brain. He wouldn't have put it past Uncle Hiashi to have done such a thing. After all, Uncle Hiashi was always yelling at Hinata for not having the correct stance, for being too slow on her feet, too slow to respond, even when she was still forming sentences.

Back in the present, Neji touched the mark on his forehead, tracing the lines. They were not raised, like scar tissue. They did not blur, like written _kanji. _He licked his finger and rubbed it against the curse mark. Nothing happened. He scratched at his forehead, but the curse mark still remained. Frustrated, Neji began to dig in his fingernails, his skin growing blotchy and red as he relentlessly and fruitlessly scratched at the mark. He clawed at his forehead, tears welling in his eyes at the pain, wishing he could tear the damn thing off. His skin was raw. His nails tore away at it.

He felt something warm and wet trickling down his face. Blood was coming out of his forehead.

But the infernal mark was still there, and Neji began to cry quietly, tears trickling down his face and mingling with the blood. It was useless. He was going to carry this thing on his head for the rest of his life. He rearranged the bandages. They soaked up blood.

Uncle Hiashi eyed him with distaste as Neji sat on his knees and watched the main house head and his tiny daughter train.

"What has happened to your forehead? Let me see it."

Slavelike, Neji undid the bandages and showed Uncle Hiashi his damaged forehead.

Uncle Hiashi inspected him and said, "Did you do this?"

Neji did not speak.

"Answer me, boy. Did you do this?"

Neji realised his uncle had figured him out, and nodded, and saw double as Uncle Hiashi slapped him hard.

"What in the world are you playing at, you little fool? Were you trying to get rid of the curse mark?" Neji bowed his head and chewed his lip, afraid he would cry in front of his uncle. "You were, weren't you? Good gods, what a wasted effort. The curse mark is ingrained in your skin, Neji. It's not going to come off. For such a supposedly clever child, that was very foolish behaviour. What a disappointment you are."

_Don't glare at him, _Neji thought. _Dad did that to Hinata, and look where that got him._

"It is a matter of circumstance that you were born into the branch family, Neji," Uncle Hiashi continued. "You may be an intelligent child, and you are certainly more talented than this one here" - he glared at Hinata, who cowered visibly - "but you will never be one of us. Now go and clean yourself up, and don't let me catch you doing this again."

Neji nodded, and went to the bathroom to wash the dried blood off his forehead.


	2. Hinata: Silent All These Years

**Silent All These Years**

_I got something to say, you know, but nothing comes..._

_Hinata is running towards the little group of teenage shinobi who have gathered in a circle, momentarily oblivious to the resurrected Sasuke and his rampaging Susano'o wreaking havoc across the battlefield. She can hear her niece crying, her team mate Senji comforting her, Rock Lee's daughter screaming and crying in what sounds like frustration and rage as she kneels down by the body of her team mate, or rather, half the body of her team mate, for Kanae's body has been torn in half by one of Sasuke's arrows. Ritsuko is nagging Senji to help. He shakes his head. Ritsuko swears at him, and then her words and the words of the others are just noise as Hinata arrives at the scene and cradles her dying daughter in her arms, Kanae's flak jacket soaked with blood, and Kanae smiles faintly and tries to reach up and stroke her mother's face, and all Hinata can hear is her own voice screaming and screaming and screaming as her daughter's blood flows down her arms, and she cannot let go, will not let go..._not this, not again, please gods no, not my baby, not my baby...

"Mum?"

Hinata woke up with a start. Her older daughter, her surviving daughter, was bent over her, shaking her by the shoulder. Behind her, Sakura Haruno, now the Seventh Hokage, stood in the doorway.

Oh gods, what must she think of me? Hinata thought. _I'm wearing my old coat. My hair is a mess. I must look like a drunk. A crazy old lady._ She jumped to her feet and bowed, even though she had known the Hokage since their Academy days. It was a force of habit.

"I'll go and make some tea," said Hiyori, and vanished into the kitchen. The two older women followed her, and sat down at the table while Hiyori busied herself with mugs and spoons and leaves, and they made small talk, mainly about Jiraiya and Taki, and Temari's appointment as Jounin Commander, and how Kankuro had made Shikaku a prosthetic arm to replace the one he had lost.

The other subject on Hinata's mind placed itself on the table and sat there, waiting.

When Hiyori had gone, Sakura asked in a low voice, "How is she? Jiraiya was asking about her."

"Keeping it together," said Hinata. "Just like the rest of us." She smiled wanly. Sakura wasn't fooled. She laid her hand on Hinata's arm.

"There's no need to pretend you're OK when you're not," she said. "Chouza used to do that all the time. So did my husband. He always..."

"I loved him, you know," Hinata blurted out, and immediately wished she hadn't, as Sakura stared at her.

"Naruto?"

Hinata nodded.

"I really loved him," she said. The words barely made their way out of her mouth. "Ever since we were in the Academy."

"What about Kou?" was all Sakura could say.

"Oh, I loved him," said Hinata, "but not in the same way I loved Naruto. It was different. He was the man I'd have a family with, spend the rest of my life with...well, that's what I thought at the time...but Naruto, he was something else." The words were spilling out now. "I've always admired him, all those years ago when we were in the Academy, the way he was always so happy and determined and never gave up. He was like...like a ray of sunshine. So cheerful, so positive and bright and warm. He loved everyone. I just wanted to bask in that warmth somehow. And it was his smile that did it for me as well. His smile...well, corny though this sounds, his smile saved me, Sakura-sama. I'd think of his smiling face and how he always stayed positive, no matter what hit him, and I'd think, I want to be like that, I want him to smile at me like that. So many times, I wanted to tell him...but I couldn't. I just couldn't do it. Maybe in the back of my mind I'd been hoping he'd notice me somehow, like he did in the Chuunin Exams the first time round. I even had the same nindo as him. When he swore he'd never give up, that's what I wanted to be and what I wanted to do. Every battle I've fought, every bit of training I did, it was because of him. I loved him. I really loved him...oh gods, look at me, going on and on. I shouldn't be telling you this, I'm so sorry..."

Sakura said nothing.

"Aren't you going to hit me?"

Sakura stared. "Why would I do that?"

"I've just told you I've been in love with your husband for over forty years," said Hinata, incredulously. "Aren't you even the tiniest bit angry?"

Sakura shook her head. "I'm not going to kick a woman while she's down, Hinata. And to be honest, I can understand why you loved him. He was a good man. And he had that effect on people, you know what I mean? All he had to do was smile that old smile of his and people would be falling over themselves to help him. Look what he did to Gaara."

Hinata's tense shoulders relaxed. She had been dreading the prospect of Sakura's wrath.

"I loved him too," said Sakura. She squeezed Hinata's hand. "To be honest, I'm amazed you managed to keep it silent all these years. But at least you never made a pass at him or tried to steal him from me. I'd be pretty pissed off if you had."

"I wanted to tell him," said Hinata. "But I could never find the words, or it was never the right time...and then Father set me up with Kou, and that was the end of that."

"He really admired you, you know," said Sakura. "I'm not just saying that, Hinata. He had a hell of a lot of time for you. He always spoke very highly of you."

Hinata remembered the Sixth Hokage's funeral, how nearly everyone in the village who was able to come had turned out, shinobi and civilian. The six clan heads who'd died, her own father included, had had their own clan funerals, though they were not exclusive to their respective clans – she'd been to Shibi, Chouza and Tsume's funerals, and Shikamaru's as well.

She thought of Kiba and Akamaru, howling for the dead while Kankuro, Kiba's husband and a man who rarely cried, had wiped tears from his eyes. Shino with his head bowed, his coat pulled tight around him, not giving anything away, not because he would not but because he could not. Chouyomi Akimichi's pale face, the familiar rope belt and Akimichi chest plate now being worn by her, as her father was in hospital with his head wrapped in bandages. Temari rigid and dead-eyed with her arms around her son and daughter. The parade of Konoha citizens that seemed to last forever, dropping floral tribute after floral tribute on Naruto's coffin. As Hinata had passed it, her legs had become weak, and Hanabi, now head of the Hyuuga, had grabbed her to stop her falling.

Sakura broke the silence. "Actually," she said, "the reason why I came over completely slipped my mind, but you reminded me. I want you to be my assistant."

"Me?" Hinata stared.

"You."

"But why?" asked Hinata. "Couldn't you have asked Ino or someone?"

"Ino's too busy with Intel," said Sakura, "and anyway, I'd rather have you. I need someone who's sensible, someone who'll stop me doing mad things. And you're just the woman for the job. Besides, I've got Temari's backing, and Shikaku and Shizune as well." _And maybe, _she thought, _it'll help bring you out of yourself again. You're still screaming, but only you can hear it._

Hinata swallowed. Then she saluted and said, "I'll do it."

"I knew I could count on you," said Sakura with a smile, and the deal was done.

_I owe Naruto this much, _thought Sakura as she wandered back to the Hokage's residence, deep in thought. _You may not have ever been able to confess to him, Hinata, but wherever he is now, he'll be watching down on you and smiling. He's still here. We carry his spirit in our hearts. All of us._


	3. Shizune: Mr Zebra

**Mr Zebra**

_Sometimes she's a friend of mine..._

Tsunade knew what she was doing when she picked Shizune as an assistant. Not only was she a damn good medic with the chakra control skills that would make your average jounin jealous, not only was she the yin to Tsunade's yang (although gods, her yelling went through Tsunade's head like a sword when the Fifth Hokage had been on the piss the night before), but she also had a skill that few jounin in Konoha possessed: the art of poisoning.

_She'd have been at home in Sunagakure with those skills,_ the Fifth thought to herself as she unsealed a scroll that appeared to be from the Nara clan. The Sand Village was home to a clan of poisoners, not to mention the Puppet Squad with their love of nasty deathtraps, and she wondered if it was true, that Shizune had family in that clan. Like any good shinobi, she played her cards close to her chest.

One time, the two women had been on the road when Tsunade had encountered some dodgy-looking men who claimed she owed them money. It was entirely plausible; Tsunade had spent more nights than she would have liked to remember getting pissed and betting. They'd bought her a drink as they talked, and Shizune, naturally, was suspicious. When the two of them went off to the toilet, she sniffed the glass of sake they had bought Tsunade.

"You'd better not be drinking that," she warned her mistress. "It smells off." And Tsunade, knowing her assistant had a fine nose for poison, was minded to spill it on the floor, but Shizune had a better idea. She always carried antidotes, and the luck of the _kami_ was on her side; one of the antidotes she carried would work against this crudely prepared poison. "You might feel a bit drowsy, Tsunade-sama," she had warned, "but you'll be fine." As Tsunade swallowed the antidote with apprehension, Shizune dipped her finger in a vial of yellow liquid and let two drops fall into each glass.

When the men returned, the four began to drink, and within a mere ten minutes the men were complaining of headaches and needing to go for fresh air. They left. Tsunade closed her eyes and let out a sigh of relief.

As the two women left the bar, they could see a crowd gathered outside, peering down at the floor, and Shizune smiled to herself.

Shizune had also told Tsunade a story about when she was assigned a spying mission, working as a housemaid for a rich gang lord who'd been at the head of a human trafficking ring. While everyone was sleeping, she'd sneaked into the kitchen, opened a tacky gold ring she wore on her left middle finger, and tipped a load of powder into the specially imported gin the gang lord had loved. For good measure, she'd also performed _Dokugiri_, blowing poison into the bottle.

He was the only person in the household who drank the stuff, she knew, and every evening he'd insisted on having his glass of gin before bed: a ritual which had to be adhered to without fail. Shizune had given the bottle a good shake, made her way back to the servants' quarters and thanked the gods for all the stealth training she'd done back in the Academy.

"What was in the ring?" Tsunade had asked. Shizune had not been able to remember. "Probably a few plant roots and stuff."

"Did he notice anything weird at all?" frowned Tsunade.

"What do you take me for, Tsunade-sama?" cried Shizune, uncharacteristically confrontational. "You're a shinobi yourself; you know a good shinobi is always subtle and never leaves tracks or clues for the enemy to pick up on. I made a point of choosing a poison that didn't smell or have a taste – why would I be stupid enough to put something in there that might make him reject the drink?" She flinched, fearing that Tsunade was going to thump her for her outspokenness, but Tsunade had just shrugged and said, "Yeah, that's a point. I should have thought of that. So. What happened?"

Well, things had gone to plan. The gang lord had had his nightly glass of gin, as per usual. At four o'clock the next morning, the gang lord had woken up suddenly, howling in agony as convulsions racked his body. The housekeeper called a doctor, but it was too late: by the time the doctor had arrived, the criminal was dead. Moreover, his skin was rapidly starting to turn black, and fearing that he had some kind of epidemic, his wife had had to have the body burned without any kind of funeral rites.

The house had been in such disarray that no-one noticed that the unobtrusive servant girl with the short dark hair had vanished.

"Too bad the cremation was premature," Shizune had laughed afterwards, and Tsunade had laughed with her. She also made a mental note never, ever to piss Shizune off.


	4. Sakura: Raspberry Swirl

**Raspberry Swirl**

_Things are getting desperate when all the boys can't be men..._

She stands alone, her fists and teeth clenched, blood trickling from her mouth. He is coming for her again, and she cannot hesitate. She will win this if it kills her.

There will be no leg biting this time. She remembers how she lashed out and sank her teeth into that Sound kid's leg, like a dog, but a fat lot of good it did her in the end. She was useless and weak and had to be saved. Like hell she's relying on Sasuke and Lee and Ino to save her arse now. Sasuke's gone rogue, and Lee is injured and clutching his leg in agony, and Ino is with another team.

She builds chakra into her fist, the way Tsunade has been teaching her, and punches the enemy into a tree. She hears the sickening crack of bones, and tries to block it out of her mind. _You're a shinobi. You may be a medic-nin, but you still take life when you have to, you don't just save it._

She spins round sharply as she hears trees rustle behind her. A kunai sings past her ear, then another, then another. _That was close! Nearly scratched my face._ Thank the gods Tsunade-sama has been teaching her to dodge.

She's a harsh mistress, the Fifth Hokage. Every day, Sakura was coming home with cuts and bruises, the angry words of Tsunade ringing in her ears – _idiot, fool, weakling, stupid little girl, try harder, and she calls herself a shinobi?, for the love of the gods, dodge!_ - but she kept going back, because she had no choice. The end justifies the means, and her reflexes are getting better and better – well, is it any surprise, the amount of bombs the mad old bitch throws at her? Sakura scolds herself for being so uncharitable. If it wasn't for Tsunade, she'd still be in a rut. I_'ve got to become self-sufficient now. Can't keep relying on Naruto to bail me out. _

Sakura throws a smoke bomb. Shizune's been teaching her how to make them. She can hear her enemy choking, and she seizes the opportunity to throw herself on top of him and deliver a blow with the side of her hand to the back of his neck. He crumples to the ground. He has a scroll in his pocket – the prize she's been looking for.

"Guys, it's alright," Sakura calls to the two boys she's been paired up with, Lee and a dark, sallow-skinned kid called Han Minamoto, who was in the year below her, and who is sitting in a tree, keeping watch. "I've got the scroll." It's all Lee can do not to start jumping up and down, but his leg is killing him. Sakura places her hands on Lee's leg and slowly, patiently, heals his injury. Han fingers the chain wrapped around his waist, the trademark weapon that his family carry. He doesn't want to admit this, but he's pleasantly surprised at Sakura's strength. A skinny little thing like her doesn't look like someone who can smash through rocks with her fists and send people flying into trees.

Fast forward to the Chuunin Exams. Ino has just passed hers – she beat Han, mindraping him and forcing him to stab himself. Chouji's probably going to reward her with a good screwing tonight, if the rumours about those two are true. Sakura's so happy for Ino – the old rivalry is done and dusted. Everybody knows I'm her friend.

Ino is up in the stands, bellowing her lungs out as Sakura swerves under her opponent's fists, gashing her leg as she slides on the gritty ground. Her opponent is from Sunagakure, a blonde teenager from the Harumichi clan, a clan of poisoners, as Sakura's luck would have it, but she doesn't need to use poison. The Harumichi girl is breathing out a cloud of it now, and Sakura whips out an explosive tag and sets it off, forcing the girl back. But the girl's prepared, and is shooting a kurohado series at Sakura. Sakura's heard about this. They say it's some kind of black magic.

Think back, girl. Think back. Tsunade is volleying bomblets at Sakura and Sakura is frantically diving and twisting her body out of the way as the bastard things go off. One of them is too close for comfort, and she screams as pain sears through her body. Tsunade is unimpressed. "If you're going to amount to anything as a medic-nin, my girl, you're going to have to be able to dodge much worse things than these."

The girl is chanting something about mountains and twisted branches and dancing crow feathers, and a chakra chain appears to zip out of her hand and wraps round Sakura's leg. The Harumichi kunoichi is pulling on the chain, dragging Sakura towards her, and the bloody thing must be charged with some kind of magic, because it's burning Sakura's leg. She tries to grab hold of the chain, but it burns her hands.

An idea zigzags into her brain. Could it work?

Sakura grins, seizes the chain in both hands, and yanks her opponent towards her. A tug of war begins, and the opponent blasts her with another kurohado, but Sakura keeps holding on. She's damned if she's letting go. Didn't Kakashi-sensei tell her and Naruto and Sasuke about using the enemy's attacks against them?

Sakura bites her lip, her mouth filling with blood as she focuses chakra into her arms and hands, and yanks the chain upwards and towards her. The Harumichi's mouth drops open. She wasn't expecting this. The pain is snaking through Sakura's arms, but she bears it, thinking of Naruto and Sasuke, and suddenly leaps forward like a snake and punches the girl full in the face, knocking her backwards. The girl tries to reach for the poison-filled syringe she keeps in her pocket, like all her clan do, but Sakura's too quick for her and stamps on her hand, smashing the syringe and the girl's bones with it. She's concentrating chakra into her feet now. The Harumichi moans with pain.

"I give up," she croaks.

Genma Shiranui declares Sakura the winner, and she can just make out Ino jumping up and down in the stands. Her arms and hands feel like she's been carrying flames, but the pain is worth it. Oh gods, was it worth it.


	5. Chouza: iieee

**iieee**

_Why does there gotta be a sacrifice?_

"I've never seen him like this before," Shikaku Nara breathed to Inoichi Yamanaka, as the two men watched their team mate staring into the distance. "It's as if he were trapped in a genjutsu."

Inoichi was not surprised. He could not bear to look into Chouza's terrible, empty eyes; it was like staring into a vacuous abyss which threatened to suck him into it, without any hope of escaping. He had been so loud, so stroppy and full of life, and here he was now, reduced to an empty shell of a man, barely speaking, moving or even eating – and for an Akimichi, that was quite a feat. Inoichi wondered if Chouza was wishing that that thing from Akatsuki had killed him too instead of leaving him to rot, stuck in an existence which was not an existence. Shikamaru and Ino had been like that too, understandably, but then they were healing faster, probably because the death of their sensei had given them strength.

And Chouji...

"How are we going to get him back?" asked Shikaku tetchily. "I mean, I've tried talking to him, but it's like trying to move Mount Myobuzan."

"Well, what do you expect?" Inoichi answered wearily. "Are you really expecting him to snap out of it so quickly? Come on, Shikaku, you're an intelligent man."

"You can help him."

"How?" Inoichi was bewildered.

"By using your jutsu," explained Shikaku. "C'mon, you unlocked the memories of that corpse, right? I bet you can do it to Chouza."

Inoichi looked thoughtful.

"I'll talk to him."

He walked up the mountainside and approached the Akimichi clan head, who sat there, staring into space.

"Chouza."

"What?"

"I can help you."

Chouza laughed bleakly. It was a horrible sound. Inoichi shuddered. "Thanks, but no thanks. I don't need your help."

Inoichi tried again. "Look, I know you must be feeling horrible..."

"Of course I did," Chouza said tersely. "You would too, if it had been Ino."

Inoichi decided it was now or never, and bit the bullet. "_Shitenshin no Jutsu!_" His body slackened as he entered Chouza's mind.

_The Akimichi clan are facing one of Pein's bodies. Kakashi Hatake is with them. Chouza can feel the spiral eyes of the enemy boring into him. Chouji is worried. "Kakashi-san, is it dead?"_

"_I believe it is," says Kakashi, but Chouza knows that the younger jounin is unsure. The clan prepare to leave...but Chouza has his doubts, and sure enough the body is moving._

_Everything is a blur. Kakashi activating his _Sharingan_, Chouji shouting. _Bubun Baika no Jutsu_ activated. Giant hands smash the monster into the ground, again and again. It is most definitely broken. Chouza breathes a silent prayer to Uke-mochi, the clan's goddess._

_He turns and leaves to go._

_Is that body moving? No. Bollocks. It can't be. Surely it's dead._

_It is Chouji who spots the body raise its arm in one last gasp and fire its cannon. He screams, "Dad!", Chouza spins round and suddenly, time has stopped, or at least is in slow motion, and he shields his eyes as something explodes and the light becomes too bright for him to bear..._

_...and tentatively...he removes his hands from his eyes..._

_...Chouji is on the ground._

_He is bleeding from his chest. His clan armour has been broken. His lips are moving, but no sound is coming out. Blood streaming out of his mouth. His skin is pale, the spirals on his cheeks seem to be fading..._

_...fading away...into the light..._

_...he has been hit. By a missile that would have hit his father instead if he had not jumped in front of it. He died so Chouza might live._

"_Dad..." Chouza is sure he hears his son say. "That..was...close...I'm sorry..." Then his eyes close._

_Chouza takes his son's pulse. So does Kakashi, who sadly shakes his head, and Chouza feels as though his internal organs have been torn out and he is falling, falling, falling..._

_Chouji..._

_My baby..._

_You died to protect me...now I'll never get to eat dinner with you again, I'll never get to discuss missions or tell you how proud I am to have you for a son...I am...oh gods...Chouji...I can still remember when I first held you in my arms..._

_You were still a baby then...now you're sixteen...you'll never see your seventeenth birthday..._

_Chouji..._

_Why couldn't it have been me? Why couldn't it have been me?_

_Why did my son have to die for me?_

Chouji...

"No."

Inoichi was sure he heard Chouza speak.

"Chouji...Chouji..."

Yes. _Shitenshin no Jutsu_, success.

And Inoichi quickly released the jutsu as the big man seemed to fold in on himself, collapsing onto his hands and knees like an animal as a thin moan escaped his lips.

Then it came.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

And Chouza curled up into the foetal position and buried his head in his hands as pain coursed through his body and mind, the memories that Inoichi had awoken finally brought to the surface, as he remembered his son's smiling face as the life seeped out of his body. He let himself collapse into Inoichi's arms as the horrible feeling that had been building up inside him seemed to pour out like lava. Inoichi felt the tears of his team mate coursing down his chest as he held the other man to him and let him cry out the pain which had been poisoning him.

He did not speak. There was nothing to be said.

He knew Chouza would be OK.


	6. Zabuza and Haku: Strange

**Strange**

_Guess I was in deeper than I thought I was, if I have enough love for the both of us..._

The wild land outside Kirigakure were a place where civilians feared to tread: it was the land of the wolf, the snow leopard and lynx, the white hare, the black bear, and the deer., the land of pine trees and a carpet of snow that came almost up to your knees in the winter. Even only the hardiest of shinobi could survive camping out there.

Haku shivered as he piled up twigs for the fire. It was not from the cold; having been born in these wilds himself, he was accustomed to it, and he had wrapped up well. It was the presence of Zabuza in the tent. Haku had volunteered to keep watch while his master slept, and he did not want to wake Zabuza with a commotion. Zabuza was never the most tolerant of people, and he was even more volatile when he hadn't had enough sleep. Even hardened swordsmen needed their down time.

Haku's eyes had become used to the darkness, and he lit a couple of matches and dropped them onto the woodpile. Small flames began to dance amid the twigs, illuminating his face and casting a dim orange light over the endless snow.

Inside the tent, Zabuza grunted and turned over in his sleep.

Haku sat, hugging his knees and watching the fire. If any wild animal or rogue shinobi came, he could easily dispatch them with a well-placed ice needle or two. He didn't like killing animals, but accepted it was a necessary evil. When he'd hesitated at killing rabbits and deer the first time Zabuza had taken him hunting, the older shinobi had shouted, "Vat the fuck do you think you're going to eat in this veather, idiot? _Berries?_ Vat sort of hunter-nin are you going to be if you can't even kill a godsdamned rabbit?" Haku had winced, but gritted his teeth and shot a deer down with ice needles. Zabuza had grunted his approval and the two of them had eaten well that night, but Haku had still felt guilty.

How different he and Zabuza were. And yet...Zabuza couldn't have been all bad. After all, he hadn't left Haku to starve to death in the snow.

Haku suddenly longed to be in the tent with Zabuza.

"Don't be stupid, Haku," he whispered to himself. "You're a tool. You're only his veapon and nothing more. He doesn't think of you any other vay."

And yet.

He fanned the fire and thought of how, before he had met Zabuza, he had rummaged in bins, shoplifted – without much success, although the occasional kind shopkeeper took pity on the small thin creature and gave him a cup of tea or a piece of bread – stolen food from animals. He had been drifting, weightless, loved and wanted by no-one, with only the occasional kindly or sorrowful glance thrown his way, and then Zabuza had come along and given him a reason to live and a purpose in life. He had taught Haku how to hunt, how to spy on people, how to kill silently, how to use weapons, how to play the part of a girl to play on women's sympathies and men's lust, although the encounters with strange older men never went too far, for Zabuza found the idea of pimping his little accomplice out disgusting and had preferred to use him merely as a decoy. He had acted as a human weapon, a living, breathing counterpart to the immense sword Zabuza carried on his back, the Kubikiribocho.

He might as well have been dead until Zabuza came into his life. Zabuza had been like a father or an older brother to him. Although what he felt for Zabuza right now, he realised with a start, was not what one should normally feel for a father or brother.

Love?

_Weapons do not love, _Haku thought. _Weapons do not feel. The Kubikiribocho does not love. It only kills. But it is made of steel...and I am not. I am a creature of flesh and blood and ice._

He remembered the time they had run into a beautiful boy with long white hair and red-rimmed eyes and dots on his head, the markings of the notorious Kaguya clan, said to be even more savage than the Akimichi of Konoha or the Takano of Sunagakure, although neither of these clans meant anything to Haku. However, he knew enough about the Kaguya to know that the boy, like him, had a freakish bloodline that made people hate and fear him. Had the boy had a Zabuza of his own? Was he a weapon too? Haku had never found out. He and Zabuza were constantly on the move after the Mizukage incident, and they had been in the wild land for days.

He looked up at the sky. It was starless, just miles of inky black as far as the eye could see.

Without thinking, Haku lit another match, tossed it on the fire, and crawled into the tent. Lying on his side, he inched himself along the ground until he could feel the heat radiating from Zabuza's body. He snuggled into Zabuza's back, burying his face between the older man's shoulders, and warmed himself.

Fire was no substitute for this, Haku thought.

With a start, Zabuza woke up. He jerked his head round and growled, "Vat are you doing?"

"I'm sorry, master," said Haku in a sad little voice, his big black eyes filling with tears as the moment was spoiled, and he scuttled out of the tent. Zabuza muttered something, and then went back to sleep. Haku sat by the fire, tears freezing on his face.

He was going to catch it tomorrow.

However, the next day, Zabuza said nothing about the previous night's incident. They came across a herd of deer, and Haku cheered up when he bagged three deer, aiming to compensate for waking his master up, and Zabuza complimented him on his aim. Any kind words from Zabuza were as gold dust.

The sky was the colour of a battered tin can. Haku shielded his eyes and read the sky, as Zabuza had taught him, noticed by the flight of birds overhead and the looming clouds that another snowstorm was imminent, and said as much. He looked at Zabuza and thought that he had read a change in his eyes.

_Does he feel the same way as I do about him? _

"Ve must be leaving now," said Zabuza, and Haku pushed all thoughts to the back of his mind and threw snow on the fire to extinguish it.

"I am a veapon," he mumbled. "I am a veapon."

"Did you say something?" asked Zabuza. But Haku just smiled a sad, shy little smile and said nothing.


	7. Itachi: Mother Revolution

**Mother Revolution**

_Lucky me, I guessed the kind of man that you would turn out to be..._

Mikoto, kneeling on the floor of the Uchiha family home beside her husband, cannot reconcile the strange man with her beloved older son. Surely Itachi would never do such a thing. Not to his own mother and father.

And yet...he'd massacred the rest of the clan. Body piled on body as Itachi had hacked and slashed and burned his way through the Uchiha compound. Not one Uchiha was spared, not even his auntie and uncle who owned the cracker shop, not even the sick or the young or the old.

She could feel the tip of his katana, ice-cold under her chin and against her throat. He is deliberating over which one to kill first. Fugaku's eyes are filling with tears. He has always favoured Itachi over his little brother, and now the favoured son is an enemy.

All because of one cruel choice. _Your village, or your family. Choose one, and your little brother lives; choose the other, and we cannot guarantee his safety._ If only the Fox hadn't been released. If only Fugaku had been kinder. If only Itachi had never joined the ANBU. If only that bastard Danzo hadn't got his hands on Itachi. If only, if only, if only.

_It could have been so different._

They say that when you die, your life flashes before your eyes, but two lives flash before Mikoto's. Her own, and her son's.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

_Newborn_. She is in Konoha Hospital, holding a tiny dark-haired baby in her arms, exhausted after a long labour, but happy that the Uchiha clan has a heir now. He will be a strong shinobi, Fugaku will make sure of that, and she will do her bit too.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

_Three years old_. Itachi is already learning hand seals. He has always been a quick learner, walking and talking early. "We'll have you doing Katons in a couple of years at this rate," Fugaku laughs, and ruffles Itachi's hair.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

_Five years old_. "Can I hold him?" Itachi asks his mother. "I promise I won't drop him. Please?" Mikoto knows Itachi can be trusted. She hands Itachi his new baby brother, and Itachi holds him as gently as if he were made of glass. Sasuke stirs, and opens his eyes, and looks up into Itachi's beaming face.

"Hello, Sasuke," says Itachi tentatively. He has brought his old teddy into the hospital with him, and waves it in Sasuke's direction. Sasuke squeals happily and reaches for Itachi's hair.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

_Six years old_. Mikoto and Fugaku are off to an urgent clan meeting. As the Kyuubi rampages around Konoha, Itachi pleads to come with them, and grabs at Fugaku's trouser leg, but Fugaku shoves him off and orders him to look after Sasuke. Mikoto unceremoniously dumps Sasuke in Itachi's arms. The last thing she hears as she runs after her husband is Sasuke screaming.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

_Ten years old_. The Chuunin Exams. Itachi stands triumphantly in the arena, his arms raised above his head, as his opponent lies beaten and the jounin referee declares him the winner. Sasuke sits on Mikoto's lap and bounces up and down, shouting, "'Tachi! 'Tachi!" Itachi scans the crowd for his family, spots his mother and brother, and waves.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

_Thirteen years old._ "Mother! Mother! I've become an ANBU captain!" Itachi shouts, charging through the door. Normally, he is more subtle than this, but on occasions he breaks out of his shell. Sasuke is playing in the corner of the kitchen, and on hearing his brother, he jumps up and barrels into Itachi, who picks him up and swings him around. Fugaku sighs and shakes his head.

"Fancy training with me later?" Itachi asks Sasuke. Sasuke looks up at him with adoring eyes.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

_Some months later._ There are strange days upon the Uchiha clan. Itachi is becoming more and more secretive. Twice Mikoto and Fugaku have caught him out, when he has not been where he said he would be. The ANBU has changed him. He rarely smiles, except when he is playing and training with Sasuke, who follows him around like a devoted puppy. He has attended Sasuke's enrolment ceremony, a teenage boy among clan heads. Fugaku should have been there, and Itachi has still not forgiven him.

Now Fugaku is upbraiding Itachi for missing yet another clan meeting. Itachi is sullen and stares at the floor. Mikoto, washing dishes, listens but does not join in. Fugaku is clan head and he knows best. Itachi mutters something, and Fugaku says, "That's not a fitting attitude for a future clan head."

"I don't want to be clan head, Father," replies Itachi.

Mikoto wonders how Fugaku will react. Fugaku does not yell or use his Sharingan. He merely says, "Then thank the gods I have two sons. At least Sasuke will not disappoint me."

"He's always disappointed you," snaps Itachi. "And only now you start caring about him?"

"I have always cared about him," retorts Fugaku, "and besides, you're a fine one to talk. Are you a part of this clan or are you not, Itachi?"

Sasuke is standing in the doorway. He has heard every word.

Then there is a knock at the front door, and Mikoto opens it to find Danzo Shimura standing there.

"What do you want?" Mikoto asks, trying to keep her voice as level as possible. She has hated Danzo ever since he and the elders decreed that the Uchiha be shut off from the rest of the village. She did not release the Kyuubi. Neither did her sons. Why should they be punished?"

"Is Itachi in?" asks Danzo.

"He doesn't want to see you," Mikoto begins, but Itachi appears at her side and says, "Mother, it's alright." He isn't smiling. Mikoto wonders what that horrible old man could possibly want with her son.

"I don't like him, Mummy," says Sasuke, clinging to Mikoto's dress.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The katana is no longer at Mikoto's throat; Itachi has chosen, and Fugaku will be first. Itachi looks down at his parents, grey and ghostly in the moonlight streaming through the window. His Sharingan glitters.

_Is he crying?_

"Please, Itachi," she hears Fugaku say. "Whatever you do after you've killed us both...please make sure that Sasuke is looked after."

Mikoto forces herself to speak. These will be her final words, and she must choose them carefully. "We love you," she says. "We're...we're both very proud of you. Itachi."

Itachi says nothing. He merely nods. For the last time, Mikoto smiles at her son. In that brief instant, he is a little boy again. A dark, shaggy-haired little boy with a turned-up collar and a shy smile and a great future ahead of him...to be used as nothing more than a political plaything by his superiors. To be torn between his family and his village. This is not the future she had hoped for him.

_It could have been so different._

Fugaku collapses to the floor, his throat slit. Mikoto bites her lip and forces herself to stay calm and dignified. An Uchiha matriarch must die with her dignity intact. She tries not to think about the dreadful reality, that this teenager with the katana in his hand is the same boy she has loved and raised for thirteen years. Thirteen years. He is still a child.

She had always believed he would be great, but not like this. Never like this.

_It could have been so different._

And Itachi neatly and quickly slices her throat open, and blood fills her mouth as she drops to the floor on top of Fugaku's body. She is dead by the time Sasuke has arrived, his big dark eyes filled with horror and confusion as he finds his beloved older brother, his hero, the man he aspires to be like and win his father's approval, standing over the bloodstained corpses of his parents.

_It could have been so different._


End file.
